This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Friday February 27, 2026.

Today, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard will not get paid, thanks to the Democrats in Congress throwing a tantrum over criminal illegal aliens being deported from our country.

The United States Coast Guard is tasked with everything from maritime safety to environmental protection to law enforcement.  When the need rises, the Coast Guard goes when everybody else stays home.  They are the ones in the air and in the water rescuing mariners in distress.  They are the ones staring down the crazed eyes of drug smugglers on the open seas.  They are the ones placing their bodies between the land that we love and those who would want to invade it.

The Coast Guard is one of the smallest branches of the United States military – only the fledgling Space Force is smaller.  Yet these men and women are keeping the watch here in North Carolina – and at all ports of call up and down both coasts of these United States.  Their motto – Semper Paratus – Always Ready.

And today – thanks to Democrats – they continue to be Always Ready – without pay.

Democrats would rather not fund these brave men and women because people like Chong Vue – a Laotian illegal immigrant who was convicted of raping a 12 year old girl – was rounded up by ICE agents in Minnesota.  They would rather protect a monster like Rene Lopez-Balbuena – an illegal immigrant nabbed in New Jersey who also raped a child – then authorize pay checks to those doing their lawful duties.  And the party of Roy Cooper and Tim Merrick would rather protect people like Juan Ramon Juarez-Talamentes – another illegal immigrant from Mexico who was arrested in Asheville after a third rape – than pay the men and women of the Coast Guard who are at this moment doing their jobs enforcing the law.

This is the hallmark of the Democrat Party today.  They want illegal immigration, they want open borders, they want thugs and monsters roaming our streets – because the Democrat party and their fat-cat donors believe this is the way they can obtain lasting power and influence. This is why they will not stand when asked about their priorities of protecting Americans.  This is why they are willing to sacrifice the finances of men and women in the Coast Guard. 

And yet they have a better than even chance of winning the House in November.  President Trump was only partially correct.  It is not just the Democrat party who is crazy – it also applies to those who vote for them.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample.  Thanks for listening.